For 24 hours I will be keeping track of all of the media I consume to evaluate my media literacy skills, habits and ability to spot misinformation. I’m very well-informed and educated so this should be exemplary behavior.
10:30 a.m.: Morning routine: I wake up and check my text messages and snapchat messages. My mom sends me a link to an Instagram Reel with a woman, who is an expert in her field, making a correction to a previous video and talking about the importance of admitting when you are wrong and correcting your mistakes. Good message, but I inadvertently spend 10 minutes scrolling Instagram. I deftly ignore the many notifications reminding me of bills and tasks, but they still give me anxiety so I do my normal coping response: play a game on my phone. This week I am playing Township, a game like Farmville but a Town.
The game combines layers of different gameplay integrated together in one app to keep you sucked in for hours, but I manage to put it away after 10 minutes. I check Life360 and see that my kids are both at their dorms. Sorry, but a little surveillance is worth the peace of mind.
11:15 a.m.: I put on the podcast On the Media from WNYC Studios. The episode talks about how Trump’s estranged relationship with facts is a feature, not a bug of his political strategy. Various academics discuss the potential impact of the manipulation of government data, for example, how we use data to shape policy and if the data is wrong the policy will be wrong and also it’s not a great sign of democracy when governments are concealing important economic data. Troubling. The podcast also discusses a Youtube Channel, Jubilee, that is a popular space for sensational political debates that often involve controversial political figures and extreme beliefs. It is very popular with Gen Z.
One of the formats involves a single person debating up to 20 different people who oppose their viewpoint. On this episode, comic activist Amanda Seales, a Black woman, debates 20 Black conservatives on various topics surrounding Black culture.
While Seales expertly defends her positions, the format does lend itself more towards sensationalism than it does to purposeful and substantive debate. I’ve often wondered what the point is of platforming people who haven’t even taken the time to research their own positions. Others have argued that the way Jubilee platforms extreme position leads to cultural harm via a shifting of the Overton Window.
These types of debates give me anxiety. I’m really only interested in intellectually balanced, and peaceful discussions. Yes, mostly NPR and PBS. I play Township while I listen to the 50 minute podcast (to self-soothe).
12:15 p.m.: I start an episode of the podcast Reveal called “Will the National Parks Survive Trump?” A variety of scientists, conservationists and Park Service employees discuss the future of the National Parks amidst Trump’s dismantling of ….everything. I play more Township while my pancakes cook and I listen. My Dad texts me asking to come drop off some stuff.
1:15 p.m.: I stand almost outdoors (in the garage with the garage door open is basically outdoors, right?) talking to a human person for 20 minutes straight. I only checked my phone once – to see if the kids texted. I continue to ignore the notification list of doom. I play Township until I get bored and then go to work.
1:55 p.m.: I put on the show Hidden America: Mysteries of the Abandoned, while I work. The show tells stories about various abandoned places in the world. The episode I watch is about an abandoned nature park in New York, and a Subterranean town in Pendleton, Oregon. I decide to look further into the Pendleton Underground. I learn that there are tunnels underneath the town that are the source of compelling lore, alleging hundreds of miles of tunnels that were built by Chinese immigrants and used as underground communities full of brothels and opium dens.
Historians contend that the tourism industry has mythologized normal building features like basements, storm drains and vaults to attract tourists. I’ve found that the show generally presents a well-rounded and culturally-informed explanation of the places they investigate but I don’t love the overdramatized tone that is reminiscent of Ancient Alients. While the show doesn’t perpetuate the myth of hundreds of miles of tunnels, it does play up the tourism-friendly narrative of an “underground network” which capitalizes on the tremendous violence and exclusion faced by Chinese immigrants who were recruited as laborers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
2:00 p.m.: Hidden America continues to play but I ignore it as I encounter difficulties with my printer and have to spend time Googling solutions.
12:45 a.m.: I don’t know what happened. I forgot about time tracking and also, time. I was sucked into a vortex of troubleshooting, Township, snacks, and….? I continued to successfully ignore the anxiety-inducing notifications and never checked my email or doom-scrolled on social media. I’m calling it a win.
1:00 a.m. Narrator: Sadly, she had called the win too soon.
*Horrifying blur of mostly political Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts.*
3:45 a.m.: So… I doom-scrolled on social media.
*Wilts into bed and trembles in despair.*
Featured Image: The Newspaper by James Tissot | Original public domain image from The MET